UNWTO report: Measuring employment in the tourism industries

Tourism is a rapidly growing phenomenon and tourism activities, taken as a whole, are accounting for a growing share of economic activity in most countries. This upward trend looks likely to continue into the future. With globalization, the world economy is becoming increasingly integrated; trade, investment, financial and information flows are all fuelling this process of integration.

Thus, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer (volume 12, April 2014), international tourist arrivals grew by 5% in 2013, reaching a record 1,087 million arrivals. Despite global economic challenges, international tourism results were well above expectations, with an additional 52 million inbound tourists travelling the world in 2013. For 2014, UNWTO forecasts 4% to 4.5% growth – again, above the long-term projections.

UNWTO forecasts international arrivals to increase by 4% to 4.5% in 2014, against its long-term forecast of annual growth by 3.8% between 2010 and 2020. The UNWTO Confidence Index, based on the feedback from over 300 experts worldwide, confirms this outlook with prospects for 2014 higher than in previous years.

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